Passion for Dance: How Dancing Shaped My Life, Confidence, and Identity

A personal letter about rediscovering a passion for dance, the freedom it brings, and why it’s never too late to keep going.

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My passion for dance is one of the truest, most consistent things about me — and as I prepare for this week’s recital, it feels like exactly the right moment to write about what dance has meant to my life. I know it might sound like a stretch to say that an activity can fundamentally shape who you are, but for me, that’s exactly what dance has done. I only hope everyone has something in their life that brings the kind of joy and fulfillment that my passion for dance brings to me.

Originally wrote April 17. 2012

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Where My Passion for Dance Began

It started when I was a little girl. Growing up in a somewhat chaotic household, dance was one of the few things each week that made me genuinely, completely happy. Learning to tap dance, mastering jazz, trying my best to look like a professional ballerina — what seven-year-old girl wouldn’t be all in on that?

The Gaillard Auditorium was the backdrop for my earliest recitals, and those memories — being a bumble bee, a ladybug, whatever I was dressed as on any given year — are burned into me permanently. Standing on that stage taught me something foundational: that if I practiced and worked hard, I could do anything.

So when it was time to think about a future, it was no surprise that my first instinct was to pursue dance professionally. I was completely serious. I planned to study it in college and move to New York City to make it happen. Janet Jackson was my hero, and I was fully convinced she would eventually hire me — as a dancer, maybe even a choreographer.

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When My Passion for Dance Had to Wait

Life redirected me, as it tends to do. A professional dance career without years of serious training wasn’t a realistic path, and I understand that now. But I never let go of the passion for dance entirely — I kept taking elective classes through college, including one stretch where I was in the studio several times a week for three hours at a time. Every time I stepped back into it, I remembered instantly why I loved it so much.

Research on the benefits of dance consistently shows what dancers already know intuitively: movement connects the body and mind in ways that almost nothing else can. Dance lets you get lost. You can be anything, express everything, and exist completely in the moment — passionate, free, and fully yourself — without anyone judging a single step.

In the early years of returning to dance as an adult, I was my own worst critic. I let every imperfection overshadow every win, and the frustration was real. But I never quit. If anything, the struggle made me bolder. I auditioned for the Orlando Magic dance team. I tried out to be one of Disney’s characters. I didn’t get either role — but I tried, and I am genuinely proud of that.

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Finding the Right Studio and Reigniting My Passion for Dance

When I moved back to Charleston, finding a dance studio was one of my first priorities. I needed that feeling back. The early attempts were fun but imperfect — being the oldest person in a class full of students talking about prom when you’re in your mid-twenties has a way of clarifying that it’s not quite the right fit.

I actually started drafting a business plan to open my own studio on King Street, designed specifically for older, professional women who shared my passion for dance. I was serious about it. But then something better happened: DanceFX opened, and owner and teacher Jenny Broe Price turned out to be exactly the instructor I had been looking for my whole life.

Jenny didn’t just teach me technique. She taught me to love the dancer I actually was — not the one I thought I should be. She rebuilt my confidence from the ground up and helped me understand that every move has value, whether it’s perfect or not. That’s a lesson that extends well beyond the studio, and it’s one I think about constantly.

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Why My Passion for Dance Only Grows With Time

Today, I genuinely live to dance. Missing a week genuinely bumps me out. If time allowed, I would be in the studio every single day. My passion for dance gives me focus, clarity, and a consistent reminder of who I am underneath everything else — the career, the responsibilities, the noise.

Those two hours in the studio are two hours of not thinking about stress, to-do lists, or anything outside of the music and the movement. Dance as a mental health practice is something more people are beginning to take seriously, and I’ve felt its effects long before it became a wellness trend. My body has never felt better. My mind has never been clearer.

As I get closer to my 39th birthday, I’m not winding down my passion for dance — I’m taking it to the next level. There are challenges ahead I haven’t even imagined yet, and I cannot wait.

Here’s to a great recital. Here’s to dancing like it matters, because it does.

With love and two left feet that have somehow figured it out, Angel

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Learn more about Angel Holmes and everything she’s passionate about at sipindipity.com/angel-holmes.